Stuffing box crimping device

ABSTRACT

A stuffing box crimping device includes a curing chamber formed as a circumferential groove on a rotating heating wheel and in which the crimped yarn is held by a tight-fitting belt overlying the wheel and rotating therewith. The groove has a stepped cross section including a narrow inner part, a central part of wide diameter in which the crimped yarn is carried, and an outermost part of a diameter wider than that of the central part. An elongated member secured to the device is insertable into the narrow part of the groove at the end of the heating path in order to lift the yarn out of the curing chamber.

United States Patent Brenner et al.

15 3,641,637 Feb. 15, 1972 [54] STUFFING BOX CRIMPING DEVICE 721 Inventors: Lutz Brenner; wnlr nn Gerhardt, both er Karl-Marx-Stadt, Germany [731 Assignee: Veb s inn- Und Zwiruerel-Maschinenbau,

- Karl-Marx-Stadt, Germany 221 1 Filed: Aug. 4, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 847,098

52 user 51] lnt.Cl. ..D02gl/l2 5s FieldofSearch ..28/1.6,l.7,72.14-

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Hay ..28/72.l4X 3,212,157 10/1965 Mattingly....

3,441,988 5/1969 Bach 2,469,293 9/1969 Tsuzimoto et al.

Primary Examiner-Louis K. Rimrodt Attorney-Misegades & Douglas 57 ABSTRACT A stufi'mg box crimping device includes a curing chamber formed as a circumferential groove on a rotating heating wheel and in which the crimped yarn is held by a tight-fitting belt overlying the wheel and rotating therewith. The groove has a stepped cross section including a narrow inner part, a

central part of wide diameter in which the crimped yarn is carried, and an outermost part of a diameter wider than that of the central part; An elongated member secured to the device is insertable into the narrow part of the groove at the end of the heating path in order to lift the yarn out of the curing chamber.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures .PATENTEBFEBIS I872 3.641.637

sum 1 nr 3 STUFFING BOX CRIMPING DEVICE A plurality of individual devices may be combined in an installation wherein the heatingwheels-are coaxially aligned.

The present invention relates to a smiling box crimping BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In stuffing box crimpingdevices originally straight'textile filaments are converted into crimped yarn'which has, by virtue of the angularfolds'and bends, appreciably greater bulk'iness and resilience than noncrimped yarn. The method by which this change is achieved includes impregnating a strand of textile fibers with a suitable impreg'nant, feeding the strand into a crimping'or stuffing box where the yarn is progressively folded over and compacted into a rope or bundle, curing the bundle emerging from the crimping chamber by the application of heat, and passing the finished bundle on for further fabrication. A curing chamber formed as a circumferential groove in the outer surface of a heating wheel and covered by a tightfitting endlessbelt, prevents motion of the yarn bundle relative to the chamber, so that there isvirtually no danger of dislocating the filaments in'the crimped bundle and thus no impairment ofthe crimp uniformity.

The curing chambers for known stufling box crimping devices comprise a pair of parallelsidewalls extending radially inward from the circumference of aheating wheel, and a bottom wall connecting the two sidewalls. Thedisadvantage of this construction is that the yarn bundle emerging from the crimping box takes up the entire space in the groove, so that individual filaments from the bundle reliable to be snagged by the endless belt inthe transition region between the crimping box and the curing chamber where the belt is fitted over the groove and sealed and the yarn compacted therein.

Another disadvantage is the difficulty'of'removing the bundle from the curing chamber at the end of the heat-setting process. The difficulty is particularly severe when the bundle is to be guided through a coolingdevice subsequent to the curing process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to obviate the drawbacks of the prior art devices by providing an improved stuffing box crimping device.

direction normal to the surface of the covered endless belt as well as laterally in substantially parallel direction therewith. In the transition region between the stuffing box and the curing chamber, where the belt is directed toward the circumference of the heating wheel, the filaments can spread out vertically and laterally, so that they are depressed by, but not carried away by the belt. The widest part of the cross section of the curing chamber (being advantageously of substantially shallow depth), the transition part, and the narrow bottom part are centered relative to each other. In the exit region of the curing chamber a clapper, fixedly mounted thereon, is insertable into the narrow part of the curing chamber to lift the yarn bundle out of the groove.

In a preferred embodiment, the cooling device through which the yarn is led subsequent to the curing process, is a suction cooler.

In a structure comprising a plurality of stuffing boxcrimping devices the heating wheels are advantageously in coaxial alignment. Each of a pair of juxtaposed heating wheels is adapted to rotate in opposite directions relative to the other, so that yarn intake into and yarn egress" out of the curing chamber takes place altematingly on thebppositesides of the structure.

The improved stuffin'g box crimping device accordingto the inve'ntioneliminates the possibility of an impairment of the yarn bundle at the entry and exitregion of the curing chamber and upgrades the quality ofthe crimped yarn.

The above andother objects, features and 'advan'tagesof "the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of the drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic vertical'sec'tional view of a part of the curing chamber and the connected cooling chamber.

FIG. 2' is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the circumferential groove of the curing chamber.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the circumferential groove of the curing chamber.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a stuffing box crimping device comprising a plurality of coordinated compounds.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows part of the curing chamber 1 formed by acircumferential groove extending about the heating wheel 2. The curing chamber 1 has a stepped cross section comprisin'ga wide part 10 facing the exterior, a narrow part 12in the interior, and an intermediate part 23 in which a' prop of crimped yarn 11 is retained. The entire curing chamber 1, except for an arcuate part defining a gap 4, is surrounded in a double 'loop by an endless belt 3. One loop of the belt 3 overlies and fits tightly against the curing chamber 1 to rotate in the same direction as the 'wheel 2 as indicated by the arrow A. At the end of its path the belt 3 is brought into tangential contact with aguide roller 25 which is positioned at one side'ofthegap 4. The belt 3 is led over the guide roller 25 which is pivotably attached to the device and driven to rotate in opposite direction to the wheel 2 as indicated byarrow B. On theguide roller 25 the direction of motion ofbelt 3 is reversed. A plurality of rollers 5 are spaced equidistantly about the circumference of the wheel 2 (-FIG. 5) to guide'the return of the belt 3, in a path which is substantially parallel with that of the inner loop, toward the opposite side of gap 4 where the belt is trained over a guide roller 24. On the roller 24 the direction of motion of the belt 3 is reversed again, and the belt itself is forced into close contact with the wheel 2 to rotate therewith. The wheel '2 and the guide rollers 24 and 25 are driven by means generally referred to as D which are not part of the present invention.

Admission of a prop of crimped yarn 11 into the curing chamber 1 takes place proximate to guide roller 24 as will be described hereinafter; as shown in FIG. 1 the yarn prop II is removed from the curing chamber 1 when it arrives at guide roller 25 after it has made almost a complete circuit on the heating wheel 2. A clapper 13 is secured to the frame F of the device by a handle 26 in the region of the guide roller 25 and is insertable into the narrow part 12 of thecuring chamber 1 to form a slanted surface on which the yarn prop 11 is lifted from the chamber. Together with the belt 3 the yarn prop 11 is trained over the guide roller 25 but, unlike the belt which is led toward rollers 5, the yarn prop is advanced into and through a cooling device 9 which, in the embodiment of FIG. 5, includes a cooling chamber 15 comprising a plurality of cooling fins 14. According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 the passage of the yarn prop 11 through the cooling chamber 15 is defined by lateral vents 16a and 16b respectively. The vents 16a and 16b are normal to the direction of movement of the yarn prop 11 and communicate with a suction pipe 17. The suction pipe 17 is connected to a low-pressure apparatus (not shown). In operation, fresh air is sucked in through vent 16a, passes through the yarn prop 11, the vent 16b and the suction pipe 17 and is exhausted toward the exterior, so that the heat of the treated yarn as well as the lactam vapors and the gases developed during the processing of the yarn are removed.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show alternate embodiments of the cross section of the curing chamber 1. In FIG. 2 the transition from the wide portion to the center portion 23 is through a slanting side wall 10a whereas, according to the view shown in FIG. 3, the wide part 10 is set off from part 23 by a shoulder 10b. The wide portion 10 is of less depth than the groove which forms the curing chamber 1. The endless belt 3 is wider than the outer opening of the enlarged part 10, so that the upper surface of the yarn prop 11 in the groove is well set back from the lateral points of support of the belt on the circumference of the heating wheel 2. The narrow portion 12 of the curing chamber 1, extending inwardly from the portion 23, protects the lower surface of the yarn prop 11 in the center part 23 against attachment or snagging at the inner surface of the chamber. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the three portions 10, 23 and 12 are centered relative to each other.

In operation, yarn 8 is obtained from supply spools 18 (FIG. 5) which are supported in conventional manner so that the yarn can be drawn downwards. For convenience only two yarns are shown; however, it will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that three or more yarns can be handled by the same equipment. The yarn 8 from the supply spools 19 is combined into a strand l9 and is led without tension into a nip 20 formed between two feed rollers 7 and from there into a stuffing box 6. The feed rollers 7, of which at least one is driven (by means not shown) are counterrotating. In the stuffing box 6 which comprises a tube of conventional construction, the yarn 19 is bunched and subsequently crimped as is well known. The yarn leaves the stuffing box in the crimped form as a continuous yarn prop 11, which is compressed by belt 3 and thereby conducted into a curing chamber 1 which rotates together with the wheel 2. A heating element such as an electric heating coil 21 is disposed in the interior of the wheel 2 and is connected to a source of electricity 22 to heat the wheel and the curing chamber 1 to a relatively low temperature which is less than the melting temperature of the yarn therein.

After the yarn prop 11 on the wheel 2 has made almost a complete circuit thereon, it is lifted out of the curing chamber I by the clapper l3, and led over guide roller 25 into a cooling chamber from which it emerges as a strand of permanently crimped yarn 8a to be advanced toward conventional takeup means 23.

In a preferred embodiment the cooling chamber includes a suction cooler to remove heat as well as gases from the processed yarn as described heretofore.

In an installation comprising a plurality of stufiing box crimping devices the heating wheels are coaxially aligned. Each wheel 2 is driven to rotate in opposite directions from the proximate wheel. The lateral disposition of yarn supply 18, stuffing box 6 and cooling device 9 are alternated on successive wheels in accordance with the direction of rotation. In FIG. 5 the position of a second stuffing box crimping device is shown in dashed lines. Wheels 2 and 2' are coaxially mounted on shaft 26. Whereas wheel 2 rotates in a clockwise direction indicated by arrow A, wheel 2' rotates counterclockwise in the direction of the dashed arrow C.

What is claimed is:

l. A stuffing box crimping device comprising a source of yarn, a frame, a stuffing box attached to said frame for crimping said yarn, a heating wheel rotatably mounted on said frame downstream of said stufiing box, means for rotating said wheel and means for heating said wheel, said wheel comprising a circumferential groove forming a curing chamber for said yarn, said groove having a stepped cross section including a narrow part in the innermost portion thereof, an adjacent center part of larger diameter than said narrow part, and an outermost part of larger diameter than said center part and adjacent thereto, means for advancing said yarn from said source through said stuffing box into said curing chamber, and means for lifting said yarn out of said curing chamber, said lifting means including an elongated member fixed to said frame and insertable into said narrow part of said groove.

2. A stufiing box crimping device as defined in claim 1 comprising a cooling device attached to said frame downstream of said heating wheel, and means for passing said yarn through said cooling device.

3. A stufiing box crimping device as defined in claim 2 wherein said cooling device is a suction cooling installation.

4. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim I wherein said narrow part said center part and said outermost part of said cross section of said groove are centered relative to one another.

5. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 1 wherein the depth of said outermost part of said cross section of said groove is substantially less than the depth of the remainder of said groove.

6. A stuffing box crimping device comprising a frame, a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on said frame in coaxial alignment with each other, means for heating said wheels and means for rotating each of said wheels in a direction opposite that of an adjacent wheel, each of said wheels comprising a circumferential groove forming a curing chamber, said groove having a stepped cross section including a narrow part in the innermost portion thereof, an adjacent center part of larger diameter than said narrow part and an outermost part of larger diameter than said center part and adjacent thereto, the device including a source of yarn and a stufiing box for crimping said yarn attached to said frame upstream of each of Said wheels, a cooling device attached to said frame downstream of each of said wheels, means for advancing said yarn from each of said sources through said stuffing box into said curing chamber, means for lifting said yarn out of each of said curing chambers, each lifting means including an elongated member fixedly attached to said frame and insertable into said narrow part of the groove, and means for passing said yarn through said cooling devices, wherein said stuffing boxes and cooling devices are arranged on alternate sides of successive heating wheels in accordance with the direction of rotation thereof.

7. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 6 wherein said narrow part, said center part, and said outermost part of said cross section of said groove are centered relative to one another in each wheel.

8. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 6 wherein the depth of said outermost part of said cross section of said groove is substantially less than the depth of the remainder of said groove in each wheel.

9. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said cooling devices is a suction cooling installation.

10. A stuffing box crimping device comprising a source of yarn, a frame, a stufiing box attached to said frame for crimping said yarn, a heating wheel rotatably mounted on said frame downstream of said stuffing box, means for rotating said wheel and means for heating said wheel, said wheel comprising a circumferential groove forming a curing chamber for said yarn, said groove having a stepped cross section, means for advancing said yarn from said source through said stuffing box into said curing chamber, and means for lifting said yarn out of said curing chamber, said lifting means including an elongated member fixed to said frame and insertable into a portion of said groove whereby said yarn is deflected upwardly and out of said groove. 

1. A stuffing box crimping device comprising a source of yarn, a frame, a stuffing box attached to said frame for crimping said yarn, a heating wheel rotatably mounted on said frame downstream of said stuffing box, means for rotating said wheel and means for heating said wheel, said wheel comprising a circumferential groove forming a curing chamber for said yarn, said groove having a stepped cross section including a narrow part in the innermost portion thereof, an adjacent center part of larger diameter than said narrow part, and an outermost part of larger diameter than said center part and adjacent thereto, means for advancing said yarn from said source through said stuffing box into said curing chamber, and means for lifting said yarn out of said curing chamber, said lifting means including an elongated member fixed to said frame and insertable into said narrow part of said groove.
 2. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 1 comprising a cooling device attached to said frame downstream of said heating wheel, and means for passing said yarn through said cooling device.
 3. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 2 wherein said cooling device is a suction cooling installation.
 4. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 1 wherein said narrow part said center part and said outermost part of said cross section of said groove are centered relative to one another.
 5. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 1 wherein the depth of said outermost part of said cross section of said groove is substantially less than the depth of the remainder of said groove.
 6. A stuffing box crimping device comprising a frame, a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted on said frame in coaxial alignment with each other, means for heating said wheels and means for rotating each of said wheels in a direction opposite that of an adjacent wheel, each of said wheels comprising a circumferential groove forming a curing chamber, said groove having a stepped cross section including a narrow part in the innermost portion thereof, an adjacent center part of larger diameter than said narrow part and an outermost part of larger diameter than said center part and adjacent thereto, the device including a source of yarn and a stuffing box for crimping said yarn attached to said frame upstream of each of said wheels, a cooling device attached to said frame downstream of each of said wheels, means for advancing said yarn from each of said sources through said stuffing box into said curing chamber, means for lifting said yarn out of each of said curing chambers, each lifting means including an elongated member fixedly attached to said frame and insertable into said narrow part of the groove, and means for passing said yarn through said cooling devices, wherein said stuffing boxes and cooling devices are arranged on alternate sides of successive heating wheels in accordance with the direction of rotation thereof.
 7. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 6 wherein said narrow part, said center part, and said outermost part of said cross section of said groove are centered relative to one another in each wheel.
 8. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 6 wherein the depth of said outermost part of said cross section of said groove is substantially less than the depth of the remainder of said groove in each wheel.
 9. A stuffing box crimping device as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said cooling devices is a suction cooling installation.
 10. A stuffing box crimping device comprising a source of yarn, a frame, a stuffing box attached to said frame for crimping said yarn, a heating wheel rotatably mounted on said frame downstream of said stuffing box, means for rotating said wheel and means for heating said wheel, said wheel comprising a circumferential groove forming a curing chamber for said yarn, said groove having a stepped cross section, means for advancing said yarn from said source through said stuffing box into said curing chamber, and means for lifting said yarn out of said curing chamber, said lifting means including an elongated member fixed to said frame and insertable into a portion of said groove whereby said yarn is deflected upwardly and out of said groove. 